Unchained - Unconfirmed: Girl Gone Crypto: How These Wildly Entertaining Crypto Videos Get Made - Ep.213

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi everyone, just a quick announcement before this week's episode. We're moving the unconfirmed show to the unchained podcast feed. Since everything is published under one umbrella on YouTube and there's a huge amount of overlap between audiences for the two podcasts, it makes the most sense to keep everything on one platform and move this to the original and more widely known brand. other than that, everything will stay the same. On Tuesdays, we'll release a longer interview where we go in depth with a person, project, or topic, and on Fridays, we'll stick more closely to the news and also provide a recap of the biggest news stories of the week. If you're a subscriber of Unconfirmed but not Unchained, go subscribe to the Unchained podcast feed right now. And if you don't want to miss the next show, because I promise you, next week's show is with

Starting point is 00:00:47 someone I know you will all be interested to hear from. go subscribe to the Unchained feed right now. Thanks again for listening to Unconfirmed. And again, go to the Unchained podcast feed if you're not already signed up and click subscribe there. We will see you there next week. Hi, everyone. Welcome to Unconfirmed, the show that reveals how the marquee names in crypto are reacting

Starting point is 00:01:14 to the week's top headlines and can see Insightscape on what they see on the horizon. I'm your host, Laura Shin, a journalist with over two decades of experience. I started covering crypto five years ago and as a senior editor at Forbes was the first mainstream media reporter to cover cryptocurrency full-time. Unchained and Unconfirmed are now published as videos. If you're not yet subscribed to the Unchained YouTube channel, head to YouTube.com slash C slash Unchained podcast and subscribe today. Crypto.com is giving away four Teslas. To enter the lucky draw, download the crypto.com app and buy at least $100 worth of Bitcoin. Download the crypto.com app now. With Sun Exchange, you can easily earn Bitcoin while offsetting your carbon footprint and delivering solar energy to the world.

Starting point is 00:01:59 Unconfirmed listeners get their first solar cell free by visiting sunexchange.com slash unconfirmed. Today's guest is Leah Thompson, also known as Girl Gone Crypto. Welcome, Leah. Laura, thank you so much for having me as a guest on the show. I'm definitely excited to be here and chatting with you. Great. Yeah, I'm so excited to. talk with you. So everyone, by the time this show comes out, I will have been on vacation for almost a week. And so before I left, which is at the time of this recording, I was, you know, looking for a fun interview to do since I wouldn't be able to do a show tied to the news. And Leah, you have some of the most fun and entertaining and smart videos on crypto that I've seen. You're well known for your weekly

Starting point is 00:02:45 crypto news videos called The Crypto Minute in which you recap the news with one-liners that you shoot in a variety of different costumes and settings, but you also do a variety of different styles of interviews. So why don't you give us an overview of your crypto video work? Yeah. So as you said, I do this kind of fun, entertaining infotainment, if you will, type of news recap from the week and just try to think of really creative ways to kind of talk about the news, like you said, with various costumes and shots and things like that. So it's been fun to kind of evolve that. I started that video series about six months ago. And then kind of to your note as well, I do interviews and other kind of educational content as well. But I would say that the Crypto Minutes probably

Starting point is 00:03:29 my favorite type of video that I make. So why don't you walk us through what it's like to create one of your recaps? And I actually picked one that I really love, which is your 2020 end of your review. And for listeners, I'll actually play the video now on the video so you can see that. If you're listening on audio, you can listen to the audio, but I really urge you to find the link in the show notes and actually watch the video if you can because the full context really, really just brings to life the full experience. 2020 year in your view, let's go. Bitcoin is risen from $36,000 to March all the way up to $28,000 in December, which is over

Starting point is 00:04:06 a 600% increase. Bitcoin halving? Try Bitcoin tripling. This year created some big institutional whales. Hi, I'm Michael Saylor. Well, this went to zero. Happy birthday. Bitcoin white paper. I'm a savage.

Starting point is 00:04:21 I'm theory I'm to put on a house. The Fed printed $9 trillion this year. Do infinity and beyond. Bitcoin is the best performing asset this year. And decade. 50 shades of gray scale. Oops, come here, I got the goods. NFTs.

Starting point is 00:04:35 Who was a hot D-Fi summer. Careful buying food tokens or else you could get sentenced to eternal yam nation. Hmm. Let's talk about Bitcoin. Is it all season yet? No. Is it all season now? No.

Starting point is 00:04:48 Oh my God. Hi, Jack. The Bitcoin pizza would not be worth $270 million. Well, hey, all you crypto cats and kittens. PayPal, welcome. 2021 is going to be smoking. So, Leah, that was amazing. Love that. Can you tell us how you choose the different ways you'll portray these different news events? Like, you know, if we just contrast some of the scenes in this video, you've got the one where you've got the glasses and cardigan outfit with the chart showing the rise in Bitcoin, kind of this like educator look or librarian look or something. And then in the next one,

Starting point is 00:05:24 you're juggling these tequila limes to discuss the Bitcoin price tripling. And then I cut to, you know, you pretending to be Michael Saylor in a whale costume. So how did you come up with those different ideas and, you know, piece that all together? Yeah. So generally what I do is just kind of, throughout the week, I'll, you know,

Starting point is 00:05:46 list out different news stories. And then for this one in particular, obviously, it was like the year in review. So it was really going through the past year. I'm like, what were some of the biggest stories that happened? So I'll kind of list that all out. And then just, I guess, really like sit with it

Starting point is 00:05:59 and think about if there's any like interesting or fun or creative way that I could maybe portray that, whether it's a play on words or if it's maybe a costume. Like you mentioned the Michael Saylor, like, you know, he's become a big Bitcoin whale with micro strategy, right? So I was like, I could do a whale costume. You know, with the Limes, it was talking about the price of Bitcoin triplings,

Starting point is 00:06:20 was juggling three Limes. So, I mean, I don't know. It's just sometimes it's just trying to be playful, trying to poke a little bit of fun at things, but, you know, make it kind of educational as well. So, yeah, I don't know. I guess I just spend some time just kind of really thinking through each line. And so how long does it take you to create these one-minute videos? And when I mean that, I don't mean just the filming of it,

Starting point is 00:06:43 but from, you know, the brainstorming to publication. So each video probably takes between six to eight hours to produce just depending on, you know, I want to say how many costume changes there are, but, you know, really like the process of thinking through the lines, then filming and then editing and distributing. But yeah, probably about six to eight hours. And so for each of these shots, do you have to do multiple takes, or are you so good that you tend to get it on the first try? So some of them take a few takes, but actually my sister helps me film them, which is a lot of fun,

Starting point is 00:07:18 because then we just get to like hang out every week and, you know, kind of film these videos together. But every once in a while, we'll get one in the first shot. And I'm like, all right, we got a one take wonder here today. Awesome. So that's because sometimes there is this other person in video who actually, yeah, she does look a little bit like you and has the same color hair at least. So that's your sister, I presume? Yeah, yeah. She's a super creative person.

Starting point is 00:07:46 And so I was like, you know, it'd be fun to have someone help film because you can get a little bit cooler shots than if it's just me with the tripod. And also it's a little awkward, especially if I'm filming outside to like just have me in a tripod, like outside filming things. And so it makes it a little more comfortable to have another person there filming as well. But it's just kind of a fun excuse to get to hang out as well. And also, like, because I'm, I'm really impressed, you know, let's put it this way. Normally with this kind of thing, you have different people in all these different roles, like the writer and then the actor and then the director, et cetera. But you're kind of like doing it all.

Starting point is 00:08:22 Am I right? Or do you outsource different parts of this? So I do most of it myself. I do have a friend of mine that's in the crypto community that is just, I think he's, like, super creative. So I actually, sometimes he helps me come up with some. shot ideas. I'll be like, hey, I haven't thought of a good one for this line yet. What do you think? And so I've got a friend that I can kind of bounce that off of. And then sometimes while we're

Starting point is 00:08:43 filming, my sister might come up with an idea. So I kind of feel like I've got this, you know, great kind of group of creative people that are helping to contribute. But in terms of, you know, deciding on the news stories and doing the editing and all of that, I do that myself. And so in general, what are the biggest challenges that you face in creating these videos? That's an interesting question. I would say it's really just deciding, news stories to cover, especially right now, there's so much happening all the time that, you know, it seems like, you know, when I started this series six months ago, I was like, okay, what else could I include? I need to find five more stories. And now I'm like cutting

Starting point is 00:09:18 stories because there's just so many things happening every week. That I totally hear you on that. I totally got it. When you do start, I'm assuming, so maybe you start with like 20 ideas, then how do you whittle it down to which ones you're going to include? And yeah, what are your favorite memories of creating some of these ideas for how to portray one of the news events? Yeah, so usually when I'm going through and kind of deciding which ones to pick, it'll either be, one, this is such a big story. Like, of course I have to cover it this week or two, I just have a funny idea for it. So sometimes that prioritizes it. And so in terms of like memories or favorite, you know, kind of moments.

Starting point is 00:10:02 from filming these vlogs or these, the Crypto Minute. I have to say, I'm glad you picked the 2020 year in your view because that was the one I probably had the most fun with, just coming up with different things. I've also kind of started posting some like blooper reals here and there because sometimes things go really, really wrong on set, you know, when we're doing these and the shots go crazy. What are some examples? Okay, so I was talking about.

Starting point is 00:10:32 about sushi and so I had a plate of sushi and I was trying to imitate a rug pole so I was like tripping, but anyway, the sushi went flying and I was trying to hang on to it and just things like that. I have one of those money printer guns whenever I'm talking about like maybe like Janet Yellen or the Fed or you know, quantitative easy or printing money. And it just makes a mess like these fake dollar bills like all over my living room. And sometimes I'll find them later. Actually, this was kind of funny. I had a friend over and she found one of these fake, they're fake $100 bills, like somewhere. And she's like, look, a $100 bill. And I was like, oh, it's fake. And she was like, why do you have fake $100 bills in your couch? Like it was just like I had to

Starting point is 00:11:17 explain the whole thing. It's just a lot of kind of fun moments, I guess, come up from that. Where did you get that money, fake money printer? Oh, just Amazon. I think it was like, 20 bucks. It's been a great purchase. And are you going to, I guess you'll reuse the whale costume as well. Yeah, definitely. I've got some, some good staples that I feel like will come out more often. Like I've got a good whale costume. I've got some good bear ears now if I'm talking about Bitcoin bears. You know, there's a few that I was like, I should probably, I've got an astronaut costume now to talk about going to the moon. So I've been trying to think about staples, a unicorn costume, if I ever talk about uniswap, you know, those kinds of things. Oh, my God, I love it. You're like the living crypto mascot. All right. So in a moment, we're going to talk about how Girl Gone Crypto got into crypto, but first, a quick word from the sponsors who make this show possible.

Starting point is 00:12:19 Join thousands of people from around the world who are earning Bitcoin while creating a more sustainable energy future with Sun Exchange. On the Sun Exchange platform, you can easily buy solar cells that power schools, businesses, and other organizations in sunny emerging markets. You'll earn Bitcoin for 20 years from the clean energy you generate while offsetting your carbon footprint. Unconfirmed listeners get their first solar cell free by visiting sunexchange.com slash unconfumed. That's S-U-N-E-X-H-A-N-G-E dot com slash unconfumed. Back to my conversation with Leah Thompson, aka Girl Gone Crypto. So, yeah, tell us your crypto origin story. Yeah, so I first heard about Bitcoin, actually, back in 2011.

Starting point is 00:13:08 I had a friend who, like, filled his entire apartment with mining rigs, was super into mining Bitcoin. And so that was my first impression of Bitcoin was, you know, what is this super nerdy, weird computer thing? I mean, the apartment was so hot with all these mining rigs running. It was just this very kind of like odd first experience. And so I kind of thought at first was like, oh, well, I mean, that's cool that you're doing this. But Bitcoin is maybe for people, you know, for nerds, you know, if you want to overclassify. But then I, you know, I kind of kept hearing about it.

Starting point is 00:13:43 This same friend was kind of poking me to buy Bitcoin. And I wish I had listened to him earlier, you know, as I'm sure many of us to do. but in kind of early mid-2017 is when I really started getting more into crypto myself. And so I ran across this blogging platform called Steam It. And I don't know if you're familiar, but it basically is where you can earn crypto for posting. So anyway, I started doing that and I started earning crypto. And what was really interesting about that is it cost me to really go down the rabbit hole and start asking a lot more questions. Once I physically had some crypto in my hands, like,

Starting point is 00:14:24 well, what gives this value? Can I convert it to real money, air quotes for those listening, which is funny now to think of it that way? You know, what is this thing called an exchange? You know, what is this thing called a wallet, a hardware wallet? Like just really started to ask all those questions and start educating myself more and learning more on crypto. And then started kind of poking around, you know, seeing what other coins maybe I might want to invest in and then got to experience the whole last bull run and have just kind of been here in the crypto space, you know, kind of casually between, I would say, you know, that time and then kind of mid-2019 is when I decided to to launch Google on crypto. But the way that kind of came about even is really

Starting point is 00:15:09 interesting because because I was blogging on Steam It like pretty, you know, consistently almost every day, even though I wasn't blogging or making videos about crypto-related things, because it's a pretty big, at the time, you know, it was a pretty big, like, art community. So I was doing random, like, ukulele covers and recipes, just, I don't know, really random things. But people started asking me to come speak at crypto conferences, because a lot of the people that were on that platform were obviously based within the crypto world. And I was like, me? Like, what are you talking about?

Starting point is 00:15:43 Like, I don't talk about crypto, but they just, you know, they just, you know, thought my story was interesting, you know, of like earning crypto for playing my ukulele and, you know, all of these things. And so I started traveling and speaking at a few crypto conferences. And after about a year or so of that, I was like, you know, I should just try launching a crypto channel. It would be a great way for, I'm obviously passionate about it. It's, you know, where I've been choosing to invest, you know, time and energy and funds and all of those things. And so that could be kind of a fun way for me to learn more. I could interview people. I could just kind of grow my own knowledge while also making content. It just kind of felt like the universe

Starting point is 00:16:20 was pushing me in that direction. So yeah, about mid-2019, I launched Grogan Crypto, and then here we are. And yeah, and so how did that journey go? Like, how has your user base grown? What were some of the pivotal moments? Like, do you feel like there was a particular video or like scene that you shot where like that really caught people's attention or? The Scorebet app here with trusted stats and real-time sports news. Yeah, hey, who should I take in the Boston game? Well, statistically speaking. Nah, no more statistically speaking.

Starting point is 00:16:55 I want hot takes. I want knee-jerk reactions. That's not really what I do. Is that because you don't have any knees? Or... The score bet. Trusted sports content, seamless sports betting. Download today.

Starting point is 00:17:08 19 plus, Ontario only. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or the gambling of someone close to you, please go to conicsonterio.ca. With Amex platinum, almost every purchase made with your card can be covered with points, including new tastes, new fits, and virtually everything in between. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply. Yeah. So when I first started making content, I mostly just did interviews because I'm like, you know what, even though I've been in the crypto space at that point for a few years, kind of educating myself, I didn't feel like I really could make this. videos really like speaking and educating yet. I feel like I still have so much to learn. So I just started interviewing a bunch of people and that was the majority of my content for probably the

Starting point is 00:17:54 first year or, you know, eight months to a year. And since I've kind of pivoted to get a little bit more into some more of the creative stuff, which is more of what I'm doing now, which is also, I'm still doing interviews, but one of the kind of pivotal moments actually that I think really has given way to a lot more of this kind of more creative content I've been doing was J.K. Rowling was tweeting about Bitcoin. It was this huge thing. Now, obviously, we've had more celebrities tweeting about Bitcoin recently, but that was like a really big moment, you know, in time. And I don't know why, but I just was like, oh, I should make a response video that's like Harry Potter themed. I don't know where the idea came from exactly, but I called it the

Starting point is 00:18:39 Muggles Guide to Bitcoin. And anyway, I just kind of put it. it in Harry Potter terms. And that's just been such a fun piece of content. Even to this day, even though I posted it back in May, people, like the first thing they'll say to me is, I love your Harry Potter video where I never could get my kids to watch information about Bitcoin, but they love your Harry Potter video. So it's just, it's been really, that was just a really fun, not just a fun piece of content on its own, but I think it kind of opened my eyes a little bit, like, wow, people like this kind of sillier, maybe more fun, but still smart kind of content. And so I think that was kind of a turning point for me too. Yeah, yeah, that is a great video. It has a quarter of a million views. And did she ever respond to that? She didn't, but that's okay. I've come to terms with it. Well, hopefully she's watched it because it is a really good explainer. I love it. And out of curiosity, when I was watching, I was like, wait, did she have to get like copyright permission? Like I was just wondering how that works because there's kind of a lot of scenes from Harry Potter. And I was like,

Starting point is 00:19:41 Anyway, I was just wondering how that part works. Yeah, that's a really interesting question. And so all the research I had done, and to be honest, I'm still not 100% sure that I'm correct on this, is that footage, if it's not the main purpose of the video, and if I'm not using any audio from the video, is eligible for use under like kind of fair use kind of things. But to be honest, I am more cautious now as I'm going forward. Because even if something might technically be under fair use, that doesn't mean that you might not. run into issues in the future. And so as my kind of channels have continued to grow, I've been more conscious of that sort of thing. And so, so yeah, I do have, for those who haven't seen it, I recorded with the green screen and then put a bunch of Harry Potter footage behind me. And so,

Starting point is 00:20:27 so yeah, that's actually still something I'm not 100% positive. So. Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah. Well, maybe we can look that up because I was wondering, you know, because I think it's like a two-minute video or something, but it is a bunch of different scenes. It's not like one continuous piece. Yeah. And so, you know, what are all the different social media platforms that you reach people on? And what do you find are the differences of the crypto audience between these different platforms? Yeah, that's a great question. So Twitter is probably the platform I'm the most active on. And I feel like with Twitter, one thing that I love about that in terms of the audience and the people that are there is it's such a mix of kind of OG cryptos and then

Starting point is 00:21:10 you've got traders, you've got people that are new to crypto, you've got people that are kind of in this middle section, I would say, where maybe they understand a certain amount, but they want to learn more. And there's maybe certain topics that they're like, I don't totally get that yet. And so that's kind of my core audience, I would say, that I'm really thinking about when I'm making a lot of more like educational kind of content is the people that know what the word blockchain means. They know, you know, so what some of these things are, but some of these maybe finer details, they're, you know, wanting to kind of dive into a little more. So I like that on Twitter. You have such a mix. On YouTube, I would say it's also a mix, but definitely have a little bit more of the,

Starting point is 00:21:49 like, beginner kind of people are searching for information. They're searching for, you know, they're trying to learn actively. And so you maybe have more of that crowd. TikTok is another platform that I'm pretty active on, you know, making some more of that kind of creative type content that we've talked about, but I'm more of like a TikTok format. And those are very, very, very very beginner entry level, I would say, in terms of their understanding of Bitcoin and their interest in it. And so that's been really actually kind of exciting for me to get to speak to that audience of people that are truly like maybe they know what Dogecoin is and that's about it. But there's more, I'm seeing more and more interest in terms of learning more about Bitcoin

Starting point is 00:22:28 and other cryptocurrencies in that kind of realm as well. And so is this like a hobby for you? Are you able to make income this way? or, you know, how does this combine with your other work? Yeah, so I have actually just recently, only about a month ago, quit my day job, if you will, and I have gone full time here in crypto, which is really exciting. I worked for the same company, and it was a tech company. I worked there for like eight years.

Starting point is 00:22:56 And so it was a big decision to leave that and kind of jump into this. But, yeah, I've been really grateful. I've got some awesome sponsors that have helped to support my channels. But also, it's kind of funny. This isn't something I really set out to do, but I joke that I have a video production company because crypto brands will reach out to me saying, hey, we need to get these tutorials made for our website about our wallet or our project, whatever it is. And are you interested? Can we hire you to make videos for us? And so that's been kind of an unexpected, like additional kind of line of work,

Starting point is 00:23:30 if you will, is just kind of working with some of these crypto brands to help distill down their message of what they're trying to say and make educational content about their. their products for their customer base. Oh, that's great. Perfect. So now that you've made the sleep, what do you have planned next? You know, I'm just so excited for 2021 to really double down on all of this to make more content, to make the content better.

Starting point is 00:23:56 You know, I'm always thinking about how can I up the production quality? How can I make it more interesting? So I'm just really excited to, I don't know if this sounds cheesy, but to say, just kind of explore like my own curiosity and experience. excitement and see what what people are getting stoked about and do more of that. So, so yeah, I just think 2021 is going to be a really, a really fun year for making content. Great. And before we go, are there any other favorite videos that you want to urge the listeners to watch or just maybe favorite scenes that you want to give a backstory for for some of the, like I know you told us some of the

Starting point is 00:24:32 bloopers, but if there's any other stories you want to add? One of the things that I've been really kind of working on and like having some fun with is taking my more educational videos and adding in elements of what I do in the crypto minute to those. And that's been a more recent change. It's been a lot of fun where like maybe I'll do an explanation video. I have like a two minute crypto explainer video series where I try to take topics and kind of break them down in just a couple of minutes. But adding in kind of costumes kind of silly, you know, footage and B-roll and things to make them a little bit more engaging because really my goal is to make learning about crypto feel a lot more approachable and fun. I know that a lot of content can feel a little bit technical and a little overwhelming. And if you're just trying to

Starting point is 00:25:21 learn about something and it's all, you know, like these big hour long videos that might feel a little overwhelming to dive into. And so just kind of short bite size tutorials. But like, for example, I recently did a video on explaining what a hardware wallet is and how to use it. And, you know, I was kind of joking about like hackers and I like I have a ninja costume. And so on screen, I'm like in a ninja costume. So just trying to make even educational videos a little bit more entertaining too. Great. All right. Well, it's been so fun having you on Unconfirmed. Thanks for coming on the show. Thank you so much for having me as a guest, Laura. I'm a huge fan of your show and what you do. And it really is an honor to be a guest here on your show. Great. Great. Thank you. Thank you.

Starting point is 00:26:02 I'm glad that you have been a listener and glad that we were able to do this, especially when I'm on vacation. It's the perfect, perfect way to have some fun time here on this otherwise serious news show. All right. Well, don't forget, next up is the weekly news recap. Stick around for this week in crypto after this short break. Crypto.com is giving away four Teslas. To enter the lucky draw, download the crypto.com app and buy at least $100 of Bitcoin before March 8th. New crypto.com app users also enjoy 0% credit and debit card fees in their first month. Increase your chances of winning by applying for the Crypto.com visa card,

Starting point is 00:26:43 which gives you up to 8% back, along with rebates for your Spotify, Netflix, and Amazon Prime subscriptions. More details can be found in the show notes. Hi, everyone. Thanks for tuning into this week's news recap. If you're watching on video and you're thinking, that's not where Laura usually records, yes, you are right. I mean the most perfectly timed vacation ever and am on a hot.

Starting point is 00:27:09 holiday in one of the only spots in the country that isn't totally snowed in and frozen and potentially also out of water, heat, and electricity. For those of you who are suffering under those conditions, I do hope that you get all your utilities back soon. All right. Time for this week's crypto news recap. First headline. Bitcoin blows past 50K.

Starting point is 00:27:34 Institutional investors dip their toes in. The flagship crypto had another landmark week after, after, you know, we're going to be. passing the halfway mark to 100K on early Monday morning and pushing up to a new all-time high at 52K by mid-W Wednesday. On-chain analyst Willie Wu in an interview on the Investor's podcast network estimates the top of the current bull run will reach $102,000, roughly doubling Bitcoin's current price. He went on to explain that his models estimate a bare floor of $30,500, a prediction that if true means we will never see sub 30K Bitcoin again. In a Thursday morning tweet storm, Wu updated his prediction saying that Bitcoin is showing, quote, strong support at 48K.

Starting point is 00:28:19 Cryptoanalyst Plan B in the same podcast interview says we are still in the infancy of a bull run and that, quote, we have at least half a year to go. Plan B using data from previous bull runs in 2013 and 2017 estimates Bitcoin's price topping out anywhere between 100K and 300K. Running parallel to the rise in the Bitcoin price is the increase in institutional adoption and interest in Bitcoin. In the last week, BlackRock CIA, Rick Reader said the asset management giant, quote, is starting to dabble in crypto. Bloomberg reported that Morgan Stanley's $150 billion counterpoint global investment unit is considering placing a bet on Bitcoin. Bond King Jeffrey Gunlack, who had previously been negative about Bitcoin, tweeted that it may be, quote, the stimulus asset. And Deutsche Bank is aiming to develop a custody platform for digital assets. In addition to these new institutions getting into crypto, Micro Strategy announced plans to raise

Starting point is 00:29:24 another $600 million to purchase Bitcoin through the sale of senior convertible notes. The company already owns 71,079 Bitcoin, worth about $3.7 billion at publishing time. While not institutional news, Robert JZ and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who are institutions unto themselves, are donating 500 BTC toward Bitcoin development in Africa and India. Next headline, Coinbase facilitated Tesla's Bitcoin purchase, private shares trading at a $77 billion valuation. The block reported that Tesla used Coinbase in its $1.5 billion purchase of Bitcoin. While neither Tesla nor Coinbase was available for comment, sources familiar with the deal said the purchase was executed over several days in early February using a similar workflow to that used for micro strategy, in which the order was rounded to several OTC trading desks.

Starting point is 00:30:19 Coinbase is currently valued at $77 billion based on trading of the company's privately held shares via the NASDAQ private market, where individual shares are being traded for $303. Coinbase plans to go public later this year with a direct listing, a technique popularized by Spotify and Palantir, in which Coinbase will post its shares directly onto the exchange. Next headline, Robin Hood takes heat in congressional hearings, promises to someday allow crypto withdrawals. Robin Hood, Citadel, Melvin Capital, Reddit, and trader Keith Gill, aka Roaring Kitty, testified in front of the U.S. House of Financial Services Committee on Thursday afternoon. in regards to the GameStop Mania and Robin Hood's decision to suspend trading on certain stocks.

Starting point is 00:31:08 Robin Hood's CEO, Vlad Tenive, did not directly answer Representative Maxine Waters' yes or no question about whether or not Robin Hood faced a liquidity problem that forced it to shut off purchases of GameStop and other stocks on its platform during the height of the GameStop Mania. In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Robin Hood said it intended to allow customers to deposit and withdraw cryptocurrencies. Customers currently only have the option to purchase or sell crypto on the platform. Robin Hood further clarified that it does not invest in cryptocurrency and intend for its actions to be systemic, objective, and derived from first principles going forward.

Starting point is 00:31:47 Robin Hood did not give a timetable for when deposits and withdrawals would be enabled. Next headline. Dapper Labs gets a $2 billion valuation as NFTs grab big names. NFT startup Dapper Labs is closing in on a $250 million round of new funding after the rapid growth of its NBA Topshot NFT product. The deal would value the firm at $2 billion. NBA Topshot recently saw two digital cards sell for $100,000 a piece, a LeBron James from the top, and a Zion Williamson, Holo MMXX. Dapper Labs, previously on Unchained, has so far seen $100,000,000,000.

Starting point is 00:32:28 in revenue from sales of its first successful NFT product, CryptoKitties, and NBA Top Shot. Another project to keep an eye on is the first 5,000 days, a digital artwork by Beeple, a previous guest on the show, hosted by Blockchain-based digital art platform Maker's Place. It will be, quote, the first purely digital artwork to be sold by a major auction house, which will be the venerated Christie's,

Starting point is 00:32:53 which will also be accepting ether as payment. Jesse Walden, founder of Media Chain Labs, who was also a previous guest on Unchained, published an essay titled NFTs Make the Internet Ownable, in which he uses his years of the music industry to explain how NFTs fixed problems that creators have had on the Internet. He writes, quote, in media, NFTs or non-fundual tokens, make it possible for creators to retain ownership of their content without limiting the propagation of their files across the Internet. As a result, NFTs have the potential to invert the ownership model of media,

Starting point is 00:33:31 offering creators, their audiences, and developers who build for them a viable alternative to platform-driven monetization. Walden says NFTs cannot be copied, edited, pasted, or manipulated by anyone. NFTs unlock the ability to uniquely own digital media assets, he says, in the same way that Bitcoin allows for a unique ownership of digital financial assets. Read the full essay to see where Jesse thinks the space is going and where we where, we are in the adoption cycle. Next headline, DFI Roundup. On Wednesday, Crypto Asset Manager Bitwise announced the BitWise DeFi Crypto Index, the first

Starting point is 00:34:08 defy index fund, which provides a vehicle through which accredited investors can bet on defy through a regulated security. The defy market, while young and prone to hacks, has grown from $1 billion in early 2020 to $56 billion in total volume locked, value locked, into protocols this month. BitWiCIO Matthew Hogan says, quote, there's a huge amount of venture capital pouring into the space. The block reports that uniswap, AVE, synthetics, maker, compound, UMA, urine finance, 0X, and loop ring will make up the diversified fund. Also in the Defy Roundup, Flash loans were once again used to attack a defy application on February 13th when an attacker exploited Alpha Homora's V2 code and stole roughly $38 million.

Starting point is 00:34:58 The resulting debt will be worked out between the Alpha Team and Cream V2 as the nature of the attack affected protocol-to-proticle lending, not protocol to consumer lending. Next headline, the first North American Bitcoin ETF starts trading. The first North American Bitcoin Exchange traded fund or ETF began trading in Canada Thursday. The purpose Bitcoin ETF trades under one ticker, BTCC.B, for the Canadian dollar-denominated version, and another ticker, BTCC.U for the U.S. dollar-denominated version. While multiple close and crypto funds exist in North America, such as Canada's 3 IQ, and the digital currency group's grayscale trust, an ETF allows for the crypto-backed investment vehicles to be traded on a continual basis instead of only a, at initial offerings and reopenings. At least one analyst sees this as a good sign, a U.S. one will be approved soon.

Starting point is 00:35:58 And on that note, on Tuesday, NYDIT, the crypto unit of Stone Ridge Holdings Group filed for a Bitcoin ETF with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the hopes that 2021 will be the year the SEC finally relents. Next headline. Bitcoin mining in North America poised to take off as debate. over environmental impact continues. Coin Dix reported Tuesday that Bitcoin miners made $354 million last week, a new record for weekly revenue.

Starting point is 00:36:30 The block estimated that, quote, institutional investors in North America have allocated more than half a billion dollars to mining equipment over the past few months, with at least 10 institutions announcing pre-bulk orders since October 2020. In addition to investing in mining hardware, Luxor Technologies announced a 7,000,000. 125,000 precede round backed by Argo blockchain, Celsius Network, and others. However, the longstanding controversy around the environmental impact of Bitcoin heated up this week. According to an analysis by Cambridge University, if Bitcoin were a country, it would rank in the top 30 of all countries in terms of its energy consumption.

Starting point is 00:37:09 Tim Swanson, founder and director of research at Post Oak Labs, published a salty article that estimated future Bitcoin energy consumption could be roughly equivalent to the U.S. quote, without seeing anywhere near the economic output, if the price ever reached $1 million per Bitcoin. He views Bitcoin as an inferior alternative to the current financial infrastructure, writing, quote, Bitcoin currently uses about three orders of magnitude more computing machinery than Fedwire, yet processes and secures significantly less. It is monumentally less efficient per watt on purpose. In response to what she called mining FUD, fear uncertainty, and doubt,

Starting point is 00:37:49 Melton Demirer's chief strategy officer at CoinShares created a website titled Bitcoin Will Not Boil theocean.com, which will publish, quote, well-supported, credible, academic, and independent research on the site of Bitcoin mining. Andy Estram, author of Why Buy Bitcoin and Peter McCormack, the host of What Bitcoin did, also published an essay saying Bitcoin mining could be used to build renewable energy centers in rural and remote areas, bringing them online. Time for fun bits. If you haven't yet seen the video of the three-year-old Lily explaining Bitcoin, you absolutely have to stop everything and watch it now. Since it's Lily's show, I won't say more,

Starting point is 00:38:33 but this is possibly the most adorable explanation of Bitcoin that is on the interwebs. All right, that's it. Thanks for tuning in. To learn more about Leah and Girl Gone Crypto, be sure to check out of the links in the show notes of this episode. Don't forget, we are now on YouTube. Subscribe to the Unchained Podcasts YouTube channel today. Unconfirmed is produced by me, Laura Shin,

Starting point is 00:38:54 with all from Anthony Yun, Daniel Ness, Dan Edelbeck, Shishonk, and the team at CLK transcription. Thanks for listening. And don't forget, next week we will be on the Unchained Podcast Feed.

Unchained - Unconfirmed: Girl Gone Crypto: How These Wildly Entertaining Crypto Videos Get Made - Ep.213

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